The global immuno-oncology drugs market was valued at US$ 43,084.5 million in 2016 and is expected to witness a robust CAGR of 14.9% over the forecast period (2017 – 2025).

Natural immunity system holds superior potential to specifically target and destruct tumors while avoiding harm to the normal healthy tissue along with long term memory to prevent cancer recurrence. Immuno-oncology research has supported the fact that immunity system can effectively identify tumors and can stop or control long term growth of the same through immunosurveillance. However, cancer progression leads to suppression of immunity systems natural functioning wherein immune-oncology therapies play an important role. Advent of innovative immune-oncology therapies such as immune-checkpoint inhibitors, therapeutic cancer vaccines, and CAR-T therapies has spurred leading organizations to actively invest into research and development. However, high costs associated with therapy is restraining growth of the immuno-oncology drugs market.

Global Immuno-oncology drugs market is driven by factors such as increasing prevalence of cancer, active research and development by leading manufacturers through collaborations and individual research, and robust pipeline. According to World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is one of the major non-communicable diseases and the second-leading cause of death worldwide. According to International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2012, there were around 14.1 million new cases, around 8.8 million deaths, and around 32.6 million of people suffering from cancer worldwide. There are many immuno-oncology drugs in the pipeline such as CAR-T cell therapy offered by Juno Therapeutics, Inc. and Kite Pharma. Immuno-oncology drugs has proven clinical profile and increasing approvals to include more indication for existing drugs such as Nivolumab, which in turn is expected to boost growth of the immuno-oncology drugs market.

The Global Immuno-oncology Drugs Market by Drug Type (Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors, Monoclonal Antibodies, Cytokine-Based Immunotherapy, Cancer Vaccines, and CAR-T Cell Therapy), by Cancer Type (Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Lymphoma, Multiple Myeloma, Breast Cancer, Ovarian Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Gastric Cancers, Glioblastoma, and Head & Neck Cancers), and by Region was valued at US$ 43,084.5 million in 2016 and is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 14.9% over the forecast period (2017 – 2025), as highlighted in a new report published by Coherent Market Insights. Increasing prevalence of cancer is expected to boost the demand for immune-oncology drugs. Also, innovative product launches along with robust pipeline is expected to boost the growth of immune-oncology drugs market growth over the forecast period. Major manufacturers are investing into R&D to develop immune-oncology therapies by understanding tumor functions and ways to counter them.

Manufacturers are focusing on upgrading the available immune-oncology drugs as well as developing new immune-oncology drugs for cancer treatment. For instance, AstraZeneca’s Durvalumab (Imfinzi) was approved in 2017, as immune checkpoint inhibitor, which blocks interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 and CD80. In December 2017, Bristol-Myers Squibb received approval for Nivolumab (Opdivo) in adjuvant treatment of melanoma. In August 2017, Novartis received approval for CAR-T therapy named Kymriah for children and young adult with B- cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. Gilead Life Science completed the acquisition of Kite pharma Ltd. in October 2017, and Gilead’s CAR-T therapy Yescarta received the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval in October 2017 to treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Celgene Corporation, in January 2018, announced acquisition of Juno Therapeutics, Inc. Through this acquisition, Celgene Corporation will gain access to novel CAR-T therapy, which is in pipeline of Juno Therapeutics. Furthermore, Amgen, Inc. received FDA approval, for Imlygic in 2017, which is an oncolytic virus to treat melanoma. In March 2017, Avelumab (Bavencio), jointly developed by EMD Serono, and Pfizer, Inc. received FDA approval for the treatment of metastatic merkel cell carcinoma.

Research and development by leading as well as small and mid-sized players in immuno-oncology drugs market is expected to support growth of the global immuno-oncology drugs market. In January 2018, Feldan Therapeutics and Green Cross LabCell Collaborated to develop Natural Killer Cell-based Immunotherapies. In January 2018, OBI Pharma initiated Phase 1 Trial of immunotherapy candidate OBI-888 in advanced solid tumor patients. Furthermore, in January 2018, Keytruda, developed by Merck & Co. reported slow liver cancer progression in Phase 2 trial. Immuno-oncology combination therapies are also under research for various cancer indications. In January 2018, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration granted breakthrough therapy status to Lenvima-Keytruda combo for advanced kidney cancer. Furthermore, in February 2018, Opdivo-Yervoy combination therapy showed delayed disease progression in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Genentech combination therapy Tecentriq and Avastin delayed kidney cancer progression in Phase III trials in December 2017. AstraZeneca Plc’s Imfinzi (Durvalumab) showed delayed non-small cell lung cancer progression in Phase III trials in November 2017.

Key Takeaways of the Global Immuno-Oncology Drugs Market:

The global immuno-oncology drugs market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 14.9% over the forecast period. This is attributed to presence of number of leading manufacturers who are focusing on bringing out innovative therapies through extensive research and development such as Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, and Pfizer, Inc.

Biopharmaceutical companies are developing a robust pipeline of immune-oncology therapies due to increasing demand for the same. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has approved a number of immune checkpoint inhibitors including Yervoy (anti-CTLA-4), Opdivo and Keytruda (anti-PD1) and Tecentriq (anti-PD-L1).

Immuno-oncology combination therapies are expected to change the market scenario over the forecast period, owing to positive results in the clinical trials

Research partnerships and collaborations to develop new drugs by various market players is supporting the growth of the market. as competitors would strive to gain competitive edge